Houy Mieng
Background
Located within Chomphet District, Houy Mieng Village is approximately 13km from Luang Prabang. The village is relatively big for the area, with 92 families consisting of 543 people residing there. The ethnicity of the village is predominantly Khmu.
The economy is predominantly farming and livestock raising. Local people raise livestock to sell at local markets and grow rice to trade. The surrounding mountains and valleys provide grounds for agriculture. Valleys of paddy fields juxtaposed by hills steeped in teak trees. Slash and burn is evident and indeed prevalent during the month of March.
There are a variety of houses ranging from semi-concrete and wooden structures through to wooden shacks.
Accessibility is via a ferry across the Mekong River followed by dirt track, reaching the village can be achieved throughout the year. Supplies that can’t be sourced from the community directly will be sent across the river and into the village from Luang Prabang.
Located within Chomphet District, Houy Mieng Village is approximately 13km from Luang Prabang. The village is relatively big for the area, with 92 families consisting of 543 people residing there. The ethnicity of the village is predominantly Khmu.
The economy is predominantly farming and livestock raising. Local people raise livestock to sell at local markets and grow rice to trade. The surrounding mountains and valleys provide grounds for agriculture. Valleys of paddy fields juxtaposed by hills steeped in teak trees. Slash and burn is evident and indeed prevalent during the month of March.
There are a variety of houses ranging from semi-concrete and wooden structures through to wooden shacks.
Accessibility is via a ferry across the Mekong River followed by dirt track, reaching the village can be achieved throughout the year. Supplies that can’t be sourced from the community directly will be sent across the river and into the village from Luang Prabang.
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The Project:
To assist the local community with the construction of a new Gravity-flow Water System.
To assist the local community with the construction of a new Gravity-flow Water System.
Testing the water source
The current water system has become degraded and inefficient. It currently dispenses unsafe and dirty water that is not fit for consumption, cleaning or washing. Thus, Volun-Tour Laos sees an opportunity to construct a new water system that will provide a greater supply of running water to the village community. This will include a new tank (4x4x2) and filtering system.
We also see this as a great chance to educate villagers on the maintenance of the pipeline and to run workshops on how to manage the system effectively. By doing this we justify the project by highlighting the potential longevity of the new system. In essence, by educating the locals and updating the facility we see the potential for the villagers to take care of the water system for the long-term.
We also see this as a great chance to educate villagers on the maintenance of the pipeline and to run workshops on how to manage the system effectively. By doing this we justify the project by highlighting the potential longevity of the new system. In essence, by educating the locals and updating the facility we see the potential for the villagers to take care of the water system for the long-term.
An example of a completed holding tank
As part of an effort to help this local community your team will have the opportunity to be involved in helping replace worn water pipes and improve access to the water through the construction of faucets. Teams will help dig trenches, assemble casting frames for concrete, mix concrete and help lay down piping. As well as work, teams will have the opportunity to play games with the local children, assist them with their English skills, and help the local families prepare and cook meals.
When the project is completed, we expect the new system to be capable of supplying a plentiful water supply for many years to come.
When the project is completed, we expect the new system to be capable of supplying a plentiful water supply for many years to come.
Expected Outcomes
The benefits to the community of a year-round supply or running water will be copious. A community with nowhere near enough water will gain a plentiful supply. What is more, unlike the system constructed in 1997, we can envisage the potential of population growth in the community. Using government data and forecasts we will build a system capable of supplying many more households that may be built over the coming years.
From a purely health perspective the benefits of adequate water supply acts as a preventive intervention, the main outcome is a reduction in the number of episodes of infectious diarrhoea. Stunting will still persist to a degree, as its causes are broader than the aforementioned. However, in tandem with the previous sanitation project, combined with a plentiful supply of water we would hope that there would be medium to long-term improvement in stunting levels within the community.
Non-health benefits are also diverse, from gains that are easily identifiable and quantifiable (costs avoided, time saved) to the more intangible (convenience, well-being).
A specific example would be school attendance as children would be less likely to miss school due to water related illnesses. Therefore, one could assert a child would gain a better education from their community having an above adequate water supply. Their increased attendance due to less prevalence of ill health is measurable, their added comfort of improved health is harder to judge, but we would expect added comfort to improve learning retention within the community.
The benefits to the community of a year-round supply or running water will be copious. A community with nowhere near enough water will gain a plentiful supply. What is more, unlike the system constructed in 1997, we can envisage the potential of population growth in the community. Using government data and forecasts we will build a system capable of supplying many more households that may be built over the coming years.
From a purely health perspective the benefits of adequate water supply acts as a preventive intervention, the main outcome is a reduction in the number of episodes of infectious diarrhoea. Stunting will still persist to a degree, as its causes are broader than the aforementioned. However, in tandem with the previous sanitation project, combined with a plentiful supply of water we would hope that there would be medium to long-term improvement in stunting levels within the community.
Non-health benefits are also diverse, from gains that are easily identifiable and quantifiable (costs avoided, time saved) to the more intangible (convenience, well-being).
A specific example would be school attendance as children would be less likely to miss school due to water related illnesses. Therefore, one could assert a child would gain a better education from their community having an above adequate water supply. Their increased attendance due to less prevalence of ill health is measurable, their added comfort of improved health is harder to judge, but we would expect added comfort to improve learning retention within the community.
Filtering water supply at the source is key in ensuring the water is supply for the village is safe to use. Building a filtering unit at source is can be difficult. The water source is usually several kilometres from the village and inaccessible by roads or sometimes even pathways. Thus, local workers have to carry materials the distance and install them. Work in Houy Mieng has been very efficient, with local labourers completing the installation of the filtration tank on schedule.
